Enda Kenny says ISIS wants to blow up Newgrange

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said that the Co Meath monument and the Rock of Cashel would be offensive to Islamic extremists and that ISIS would want want to "blow up Newgrange.”

The Taoiseach said that the destruction of ancient temples in Syria are a sign of the group’s barbarism and that refugees must be allowed to seek asylum in Ireland to escape the Islamic State jihadists, The Irish Examiner reports.

"Look at what's happened in Syria with the growth of ISIS,” he said.

"Purely from the historical point of view, they want to blow up Newgrange and the Rock of Cashel, they want children shooting others in the head, this is horrendous."

Despite Tánaiste Joan Burton saying we should take 5,000, the prime minister said he is not fixated on numbers.

"When people say 'how many are you going to take in?' I want to see the European model here first of all,” he said.

"Why do they have to cross the sea at all, if you are in a position to assess if they are eligible for relocation or asylum status.